The five best over-under wins to bet on for the 2016-17 NBA season

The Westgate Las Vegas Superbook this week released its NBA over/under win totals for the upcoming season and, as usual, it generated some intriguing forecasts.

The projections from Vegas have become a big thing among NBA fans as they look to make money by predicting a team's win total for the 82-game season.

Trying to forecast all the variables that could potentially be in place during a long and gruelling campaign and correctly predict a team's total of wins is extremely difficult, but many find it fun nonetheless.

Here are the best five bets for the 2016-17 season:

1. Golden State Warriors - Over 66.5

This should be a straightforward one. Having won a record 73 games in the regular season last year, the Warriors blew a 3-1 lead in the Finals to lose to the Cleveland Cavaliers and duly added Kevin Durant in the offseason.

The Dubs came into the previous campaign with a chip on their shoulder after many discredited their title win following injuries to Kyrie Irving and Kevin Love for the Cavs.

They will be coming into this year with an even bigger chip having become the only team to squander such a lead to LeBron James and company. With KD, Stephen Curry, Klay Thompson and Draymond Green, Golden State has created the first ever big four in the league and they will be a force to be reckoned with.

Sure they had to make sacrifices by losing Harrison Barnes, Andrew Bogut, Festus Ezeli and Leandro Barbosa, thus weakening their bench. But they now possess two of the best three players on the planet and the best two shooters in basketball.

I would say a bet on the men from the Bay Area winning more than 66 games is a gamble worth taking.

2. Milwaukee Bucks - Under 37.5

A few days ago this bet may not have looked so enticing, but with the news yesterday of Khris Middleton's torn hamstring that will keep him sidelined for six months, it's a no-brainer.

Middleton was the team's leading scorer last season averaging a career-high 18.2 points per game and the loss of that production for a team like the Bucks is damaging.

The shooting guard accounted for 32.5 percent of all the Bucks’ made three-pointers last year and as they were in the bottom 10 for offensive efficiency, they can only get worse.

They may have acted quickly by trading for Michael Beasley, but Jason Kidd's men will still struggle to put the ball through the hoop.

3. Philadelphia 76ers - Under 27.5

This is another bet that many are likely to pounce on. The Sixers won just 10 games in the last campaign and though they drafted the hugely talented Ben Simmons and will finally see Joel Embiid take to the floor, winning another 18 games seems unlikely.

They added veterans such as Jerryd Bayless and Gerald Henderson in the summer and they can add two or three more wins and Simmons and Embiid can add three wins each with their skills on the floor but you would still expect them to win less than 28 games.

Philly will be better than the previous year, quite frankly they can't really get any worse, but a jump of 18 wins is slightly unrealistic.

But the improvement will be evident for Sixers fans and this number should rise again in the following year.

4. Charlotte Hornets Over 39.5

The Hornets enjoyed a terrific season last year and won 48 games. Despite a first-round playoff exit at the hands of the Miami Heat, there were many positives to take from the campaign for Steve Clifford and his men.

The offseason wasn't particularly kind to the franchise as they lost Al Jefferson, Courtney Lee and Jeremy Lin but they should still be good enough to remain above .500.

Clifford has proven himself to be one of the most underrated coaches in the league and with him on the bench Charlotte should still be competitive in the Eastern Conference.

Kemba Walker was unlucky not to be named as an All-Star as he took his game to another level and proved himself to be the leader of the team.

Keeping Nic Batum - who averaged a solid 14.9 points, 5.8 rebounds, and 6.1 assists in his first year in Charlotte - was also a big coup for the Hornets. They may not win 48 games again, but we can expect them to reach at least 40.

5. Denver Nuggets Over 34.5

The Nuggets fans won't really enjoy what they see from their team in the upcoming campaign but the franchise struggled with injuries to Danilo Gallinari, Wilson Chandler and Jusuf Nurkic at various points last year and still managed 33 wins.

With those players fit, including talented pieces such as Kenneth Faried, Emmanuel Mudiay and Will Barton, Denver has enough on its roster to reach at least 35 wins.

They can achieve two more wins and get the over, so this certainly represents a good bet.

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